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To: ghostme who wrote (6563)	5/13/1999 7:44:00 PM
From: James Lee Baldwin	Respond to of 7609

An excellent site for ARET/Choctaw signing. geocities.com Thanks to teamwork between the Choctaw Nation and several other agencies, a new home mortgage program will enable homebuyers to purchase or build for as little as 1% down. Signing the agreement are Dustan Shepherd, representing First Americans; Jean Garrison with PMI; Choctaw Nation Chief Greggory E. Pyle; Jacqueline Pryor, representing Freddie Mac and Lana Hicks with PMI. "We will begin the Choctaw Homebuyers Advantage Program (CHAP) assistance to help Choctaws statewide," said Chief Gregory E. Pyle. The 1996 Congressional action, Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) made it possible to begin this new Choctaw Nation program. Freddie Mac, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, First Americans Mortgage Corporation and Washington Mutual have signed an agreement with the tribe to provide the opportunity to Choctaws to purchase homes at a tremendous financial advantage. "We are one of the first in the Nation to leverage funds like this, using NAHASDA to have the ability to use self-determination to offer this advantage to homebuyers," said Chief Pyle. "This is the new dawn of the Housing Authority Of the Choctaw Nation. We no longer have our hands tied to work only with low income homeowners. Now in addition to being able to expand programs to help house those low income families, we can truly be a homing assistance program for virtually all Choctaw families. This is definitely an advantage for the Choctaw people,," said Chief Pyle. "One way the CHAP assistance program will be a long-term advantage is that the money loaned out to higher income families will come back to us through payments, with interest, creating additional resources to benefit more low income families with housing," said Choctaw Nation Assistant Chief Mike Bailey. "The tremendous leadership of Chief Pyle, combined with the full support of the Tribal Council and Housing Board of Commissioners, has put the Housing Authority of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in a position to provide more home ownership opportunities for more Choctaws than at any time in our history. We are very excited about the partnership with PMI, Washington Mutual, First Americans and Freddie Mac. We look forward to a long working relationship in which the Choctaw people will be the ultimate benefactor," said Russell Sossaman, Executive Director of .the Choctaw Housing Authority. Chief Pyle said the Housing Authority is also exploring the possibility of expanding the program to Choctaws living outside Oklahoma. Freddie Mac is providing the $10 million necessary to finance the loans, with PMI working to insure the loans, First Americans originating the loans in conjunction with Washington Mutual. By using the CHAP program, Choctaws living in Oklahoma could purchase a home with a down payment of 3%. There is an option of taking a second loan on 2% of that down payment and only paying the 1%. This 2% would be a low percentage interest loan paid to Choctaw Nation with the home mortgage payment made to Washington Mutual. Remember, with CHAP, the Choctaw Advantages are: Down payment assistance As little as 1% down No maximum income guideline Enhanced credit flexibility Maximum $227,150 loan, no minimum loan Program is available statewide in Oklahoma for Choctaws PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, based in San Francisco, is the third largest private mortgage insurer in the United States. In addition to private mortgage insurance, PMI, with its parent company, The PMI Group and corporate affiliates, is a leader in risk management technology, and provides various products and services for the home mortgage finance industry including title insurance. "We are proud to work with our partners to assist Choctaws in the attainment of homeownership. This initiative is indicative of what can be accomplished when various participants come together to leverage resources and opportunities," said W. Roger Haughton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PMI. Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owner corporation established by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders in support of home ownership and rental, housing. Freddie Mac purchases mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities that are sold to investors. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened doors for one in six homebuyers in America. "Freddie Mac is pleased to participate in an initiative that increases affordable homeownership opportuni-ties for the Choctaw people," said Mike Coffey, vice president for Expanding Markets at Freddie Mac. "We are proud to work with such committed people and organizations to help fulfill the dream of homeownership for hundreds of Choctaw families." "Homeownership contributes two major principles toward improving the quality of life for Native Americans: hope and pride. First Americans as a Native American company has worked diligently over the last two years to nurture these principles throughout the Choctaw Nation. We are proud to have been the initiator of this program and a partner in its development and we look forward to expanding our relationship with the Choctaw people through this initiative,'' said Dustan Shepherd. Applications for CHAP are available at the Choctaw Housing Authority in Hugo, and at all the Choctaw Nation Field Offices. For more information, please contact the Choctaw Housing Authority at (580) 326-7521 or 1-800-235-3087.

To: ghostme who wrote (6563)	5/13/1999 7:46:00 PM
From: James Lee Baldwin	Respond to of 7609

A Dustan Shepherd quote: Opportunity Knocks, but Relationships Stay The Native American Credit Market Indian Country is made up of nearly 300 reservations in the continental U.S., more than 220 villages in Alaska, and several Hawaiian homelands. Each of these areas can represent new community banking lending opportunities. But lenders should not expect opportunities to turn into profitable relationships without the relationship building that demonstrates a sense of commitment. Stockmens Financial Corporation and Norwest Bank are just two of the institutions making that commitment. Rebecca Adamson The Native American Housing Market At the Banking in Indian Country conference held July 1997 in Washington, D.C., Comptroller of the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig named access to home ownership as a critical issue for Native Americans. Section 184 and other legislative initiatives--U.S. and tribal--are creating new opportunities for lenders. Dustan Shepherd

To: ghostme who wrote (6563)	5/13/1999 7:49:00 PM
From: James Lee Baldwin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7609

Finally, a reminder of potential: Julia T. Brown, Community Reinvestment and Development Specialist of the OCC's Western District Office was the moderator of the panel composed of Larry E. Scrivner, Chief, Division of Real Estate Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); Karen Garner-Wing, Director, Loan Guarantee Program, HUD-National Office of Native American Programs; H. Beth Marcus, Director, National Housing Impact Division, Fannie Mae; and Dustan R. Shepherd, President, First Americans Mortgage Corporation. (Donna Fairbanks of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, scheduled to be a panelist, did not participate due to illness.) The first three panelists presented a quick overview of the roles their respective agencies play in home mortgage lending in Indian country. Larry Scrivner of BIA described the BIA's organization from the local to federal level, the kinds of real estate services in which BIA is involved, and how to obtain, through BIA, title reports on Indian land. He noted that BIA's involvement in the lending process depends on whether the mortgage is on fee simple land, trust land, or restricted land, and briefly explained the title status report. Karen Garner-Wing of HUD described HUD's new Section 184 guaranteed loan program, which is designed to increase home ownership by individuals and tribes in Indian country. She summarized program-specific requirements and also noted that Section 184 participation is restricted to tribes that have lien and leasing procedures, bankruptcy and foreclosure laws, and other procedures in place. Beth Marcus outlined Fannie Mae's commitment to purchase and securitize Indian country loans, including HUD-backed permanent loans. She also described Fannie Mae's attempts to enhance the conventional lending market, including working with BIA and HUD to develop standard mortgage documents, negotiating agreements with title companies involved in the Indian country mortgage market, and partnering with conventional lenders, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes. Dustan Shepherd described his experiences as a private lender dedicated to increasing lending to borrowers in Indian country. He reiterated remarks previously made by Comptroller Ludwig that lenders interested in this market need to visit the reservations and learn about the customs and traditions of Native Americans. To illustrate that this lending segment can be profitable, he estimated that $500 million in loans can be made in Navajo Indian country in the next several years. He also reminded lenders that the government guarantee on many of these loans makes this market less risky than other loan programs. Most questions raised during the question and answer period related to the BIA's loan approval process. Several members of the audience asked how they could help speed BIA's backlog of mortgage loan applications on Indian trust lands. Dustan Shepherd recommended that lenders make sure that loan packages include all required documentation before submitting the application. Fannie Mae's Beth Marcus mentioned that certain nonprofit organizations are developing model agreements, such as blueprints for homesite lease applications in Navajo Country, that may be adopted for use elsewhere. Standard documentation may speed up the overall loan process. BIA's Larry Scrivner recommended that tribes ask local BIA offices to give priority to processing title status report requests submitted in connection with home mortgage loans. During the question and answer period, Nancy Jemison, Director of Economic Development at BIA, revealed that they are awaiting an opinion from BIA's solicitor clarifying BIA's role in approving contracts involving Indians. The BIA hopes the opinion and new BIA approval guidelines will set the stage to improve the inconsistent application of standards for processing loan applications and clarify other Section 184 uncertainties. Audience members also raised concerns related to obtaining title to and title insurance on mortgage loans in Indian lands. An attorney representing lenders recommended including title insurance companies in discussions about what kinds of mortgage loans require title insurance. Several members of the audience also questioned the intent of HUD's Section 184 loan guarantee program. An OCC staff member observed that an average loan amount of almost $90,000 did not seem to be an affordable mortgage; he was informed that high transportation costs associated with shipping modular homes to Alaska was the primary explanation for these higher loan amounts. A GAO staff member asked why the Section 184 loan program has seen many more fee simple loans than trust mortgages. A former aid to Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NE), an architect of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, responded that the Section 184 loan guaranty program is not solely aimed at providing housing to low-income households on trust land; instead, it attempts to increase overall private sector lending to Native American Indians.